The other Saturday at the Vireo Preserve we had the opportunity to explore the largely successful recovery and management efforts happening on the preserve. Biologist Jim O’Donnell from the City of Austin walked us through his 20 years of work on the Vireo Preserve. He called our attention to several plant and animal species and explained their significance for the ecosystem and recovery efforts. One of the most interesting things I learned was the use of Turkey-tail, a fungus that grows out of logs and trees, to manage the invasive Japanese Privet (one we have heard a lot about from researchers at Wild Basin-Abby, Savannah, and Eric!). Jim O’Donnell explained how they cut down the privet chopping into two feet long chunks. They inoculate the stumps with Turkey-tail after it has dried and spread it around the preserve. The fungus grows out of the sides of the inoculated pieces of privet and then eventually decomposes the chunks. It is an innovative way to deal with the cut down privets and allows natural biological processes speed up the process of decomposition. Here is a picture of an inoculated privet piece:
The majority of the fungus is within the wood and only it’s tail sticks out, giving the Turkey-tail it’s name. It rarely harms a tree since it lives mostly to decompose dead woody material, providing essential nutrients to the soil. Along with the Turkey-tail’s important role in nutrient cycling it is linked to potential immune benefits in cancer patients. See here for a closer look at the study. My iNaturalist post is found here.
References:
http://www2.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/turkey_tail.htm
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/trametes_versicolor.html